


What A Wonderful World This Would Be

by HereForTheNarry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, Fluff, Immortal Niall, Liam and Louis are briefly in it, M/M, mortal Harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-03 10:28:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8708965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HereForTheNarry/pseuds/HereForTheNarry
Summary: Harry was drifting through life, not really participating in anything, until one night he has a strange dream that changes everything.Or: Immortal Niall saves mortal Harry, or does Harry save Niall?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is mostly written and I will try and post the chapters as soon as possible. I work in retail and it's crazy busy as we're only a month away from Christmas but I am hoping that it will all be completed by Christmas Day as a gift to those talented writers who write such beautiful Narry stories.
> 
> I have no beta, all mistakes are my own.

Harry had never been a big fan of sleep. Why should he miss out on any hours of the day to literally lie unconscious, especially as lying comatose like that was of his own doing. It seemed like madness. He avoided sleep for a long time, getting by on the smallest amount possible, just enough so that he could function. He was too busy for sleep, sleep was for people with not enough to do. That was until 'he' arrived.

It was one fitful night of battling with insomnia and an urge to pull an all-nighter when Harry's life changed.

Harry had finally dropped off to sleep, albeit reluctantly, when a blonde angel appeared to him. He believed it was an angel; his hair looked fluffy and seemed to create a halo effect, when in fact he was just a man. The man stared at Harry, like he held all the answers in the world. Harry wanted to look away but couldn't, the pull was too strong. He was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Usually, Harry was underwhelmed by everything in his life, so to feel such a strong emotion about another person; a stranger, was certainly alien to him indeed. Before the man got the opportunity to speak, he disappeared as the blare of Harry's alarm clock went off. He had certainly had better starts to the day.

A week passed and his sleep had actually been okay. That was until he had an argument with someone at work and ended up so riled that he knew he had no chance of sleeping so soundly as he had in the previous week.

That night he tossed and turned, even though he had tried to go to bed as relaxed as possible. He had had a herbal bath, a relaxing drink and had ignored the television so he hoped he had done enough to settle himself down for a restful night. Sadly, this was not to be.

After a few hours of attempting to fall asleep, he achieved his objective and was rewarded with the face of the 'angel'. He looked pleased to see Harry, and Harry hoped that their encounter would last longer than last time. The man moved to walk towards Harry, and he found he wasn't lying in his bed, but was in fact stood in a park, one he recognised as being close to his flat. He had never visited the park, but had been passed it many times as he stared blankly out of the bus window going to and from work.

The man approached Harry, smiling all the while. When he reached Harry, he could see that the man was around the same height as him, with a blue winter coat on that brought out the blue in his eyes, black jeans that made his legs look lean and muscly and white trainers that Harry worried would end up covered in mud. It was a wintry November after all.

"I'm so glad you could make it", the man said, excited that it really was Harry. Why the man was so excited, Harry had no idea. He didn't recall ever meeting the man, besides in the last dream, but his mind was always so chock full that his memory had taken a backseat and tended to live in the now, rather than in the past with memories. This made him awfully flaky when it came to retaining information, but he didn't know any other way to be.

"How have you been?" The man asked, face expectant.

"Oh, fine thanks, you?" Harry replied, still confused that he didn't recognise him.

"Yeah, I'm good thanks. I didn't know if I would be able to reach you again, but I'm so pleased I could."

If Harry was confused before, he was more so now. 'Reach me'?

"I know this is going to sound strange, but what do you mean by 'reach you'? I'm having trouble trying to place you, have we met?"

The man's face fell, but he recovered quickly.

"Well, we haven't officially met, but we have spoken. I work with you, but I'm in a different office. I work with Maggie. I'm Niall, nice to meet you officially."

He held out his hand and Harry found himself compelled to shake it, even though he wasn't a big fan of touch. There was a traumatic situation that had happened to him previously, as usually is the case when someone displays a behaviour trait not deemed as "normal" and he had managed to avoid touching people, or at least them touching him, for a very long time. Niall had somehow broken through all of Harry's barriers and he had willingly given his hand to him.

"Nice to meet you. I know it's a strange question, but how did you 'reach me'? Aren't I just in bed dreaming and you are a figment of my imagination?"

He knew it seemed like a forward question, but after the brutal interruption of his alarm last time, Harry knew time was of the essence.

Niall paled a little at his question, which seemed impossible as he already had a pale complexion.

"I think we should sit down," he said, walking them towards an empty bench. The entire park seemed empty so they had privacy.

"I'm not really as I seem in real life," Niall started, clearly anxious to get Harry to understand but doing such a bad job of it. "I have been watching you, and I know that you're unhappy. My 'job' in life isn't to sell office supplies, like we do when you're awake, it's to find those people who are unhappy but deserving, and improve their quality of life. You have been chosen to be looked after, and they sent me to you. I've been watching you for some time."

Harry knew he had gone red in the face, he could feel it. Niall noticed his embarrassment but continued.

"I know all of your history, I know all of your issues and the things that hold you back in life, and I am here to help you."

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing! This certainly was a strange dream, and as lovely as it would be to be true, that someone did care, even if it were some invisible powers that be, he felt comforted knowing that he wasn't entirely alone.

Harry immediately had a question, but as he went to ask it, the alarm went off and he was crudely jolted back into the real world. He couldn't believe it, what awful timing!

He reluctantly got up, dressed and got ready for another day in the office, hopefully with no arguments today, but then; hadn't his having the argument with his colleague, as silly as it was, cause him to have the dream he did? He wasn't going to start a fight today, but he wouldn't shy away from one if it arose...


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry has questions.

Harry found himself smiling as he sat on the bus to work, his breath catching every time he saw a man with blonde hair. The dream was one of those that stuck around in the memory, making you question whether it actually happened or whether you're remembering a film you saw once.

Once Harry got to the office, he settled into the work routine but sadly his positive mood disappeared during a rather tense conversation with someone he was trying to sell office desks to. The man on the phone was incredibly rude to Harry and he felt the memory of the dream slip away, as if it had never taken place.

Before he knew it though it was time to go home. He had spent a good portion of his day looking for Niall whenever he could, but sadly saw no hide nor hair of him. Once he was on the bus homeward bound, he counselled himself that the dream was a lovely one off and that that was the end of that. He slept soundly for a few nights and forgot Niall existed while he battled with life.

One Saturday afternoon, he had been convinced to go shopping by his sister Gemma, her 'desperately' needing his advice on her shopping trip.

"But you're the only person I can ask!" She cried, as he tried to decline her kind 'offer'.

"Fine, fine!" Harry said. Even though he was a naturally dour person, he loved Gemma incredibly. She put up with him when his moods were low and had always been there for him.

The city centre was jam packed, as it was so near to Christmas, but Harry was happy to help Gemma out. They popped in and out of so many shops they felt quite dizzy by the end.

"Do you even have an idea of what you would like to buy for Stephen?" Harry asked. Stephen was her boyfriend, it was their first Christmas being together and she clearly wanted to make a good impression.

She shook her head. "That's why I brought you, I thought you'd have an idea," she said sadly.

"I've only met him a handful of times, how would I know what to get him?" Harry shouted, he had really had enough by now.

"Because you're a boy too, obviously!" Gemma laughed.

"So?" Harry said, "I don't know the man! Buy him some aftershave that you like the smell of, then tell him that you've sprayed your pillow with some already so when he's not there, you'll be reminded of him in his absence."

Gemma looked at him like he had grown a second head.

"That's an amazing idea, Harry! Why didn't you say this hours ago?"

He asked himself the same question.

Gemma purchased a suitable candidate and Harry had to admit it was a great choice. Finally they made their way home.

Even though Harry hadn't felt stressed, probably because Gemma was such a calming influence, he clearly was as it was so difficult for him to get to sleep. He got up and put the TV on, lying on the sofa feeling sorry for himself. He catnapped for what felt like an eternity, but was in fact only twenty minutes. He woke up briefly, groaned at the time and promptly fell asleep again.

Before Harry knew it, Niall was there and they were back in the park. Again, it was deserted, which Harry was grateful for.

"I must have some answers this time, I never know when my alarm clock is going to snatch me away and I feel like I need answers."

Niall looked pleased that Harry was interested in talking to him, as he had seemed to be non-believing the last time they met like this.

"Understandably," Niall answered. "I will be brief in case you disappear again. You have been deemed to need rescue and support, and I am here to help."

"But who has deemed me? I keep coming back to that part and I can't quite understand it all."

Niall nodded thoughtfully and said, "that is a fair question. I am part of a group of people who live both on Earth and above it. I really can't explain much more than that in case we run out of time, but now that we have made this connection, I would love to carry it on in real life."

"Why did you not just speak to me 'in real life' before, especially as we work together? Would that not have made more sense?" Harry was confused.

Niall nodded, "it would, but you are not known for being approachable and it was decided that conversing with you in the midst of sleep and wakefulness would be the best solution. I have been watching you at work for a while now, and it is finally great to speak to you. I have seen others approach you, and you bat them off without any thought. I needed a way to introduce myself without you instantly dismissing me."

Harry felt terrible that he was being seen that way, he had hoped that he'd been keeping his feelings about how he felt about the world to himself, but clearly not. Not at all.

"That makes sense. I am so glad that you reached out though. I find myself so calm around you." Harry went red as soon as he had spoken, he hadn't meant to be so honest, it just slipped out. What had happened to his barriers? It was like Niall had come and smashed them all down.

Niall smiled a smile so bright, Harry felt like someone had turned the sun on.

"I'm so happy you feel that way. It is much easier for me to help people if they are happy to be around me."

Harry felt a stab of jealousy at hearing he wasn't Niall's first person to be helped. He didn't really want to know, but asked anyway, "just how many people have you helped before me?"

"Hmm," said Niall, "this will sound like bragging but ninety nine before you, which makes you number one hundred."

Harry made a sound like a deep breath. That was a lot of people! He felt oddly proud though to have been chosen to be 'helped', though he was still unsure as to what 'helped' meant.

Before he knew it, the alarm was blaring away, thinking it was doing a good thing, and Niall was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry has homework.

It was two weeks before Harry dreamed of Niall again. Even though Niall had stated how he would like to spend time with Harry in 'real life' and not the land of sleep, Harry hadn't seen Niall once at work, and was beginning to think that it was time for him to see a doctor, as his mind seemed to be playing tricks on him.

He had just dropped off to sleep after another stressful day at work when Niall appeared, but this time they weren't in the park, instead they were sat on Harry's sofa.

"I thought being in familiar surroundings might be helpful," Niall offered when Harry seemed confused.

"Yes, it is, thank you." Harry smiled. "When we first met, you said you worked with me, but I haven't seen you in the office, neither before nor after we met in my dream. Did I misunderstand, do you work with me?"

Niall looked a little sheepish and a warm red glow started to sweep his face.

"No, you were correct, I did tell you that I worked with you. I do, but part-time. Usually I would finish working with one client before starting working with the next, and I believed that my previous client to you was ready to move on on her own, but I was wrong. She's needed me for longer than was expected, but today we finally said goodbye and I hope she finds the strength to carry on alone. She is stronger than she thinks, I have high hopes for her." Niall finished with a flourish, his pride evident.

"So, you were due to start working with me sooner, but were delayed?" Harry asked, hoping he wasn't being offensive in his choice of words.

"Yes, that pretty much sums it up. I had to work part-time gathering intel on you as I was also needed elsewhere."

Harry sat and thought for a while.

"Would it make it easier for you if we started spending time together in real life, rather than during my fevered sleep?"

Niall beamed. "Yes, I would love that. Tomorrow is Saturday and I have no plans. Do you?"

Harry smiled a little and shook his head.

"Perfect! Shall I come over? Around midday? That will give you time to sleep, it is quite late now."

Harry smiled again, feeling bashful and unable to speak.

"Marvellous!", said Niall, clapping both hands together at once. "I will see you around midday."

With that, Harry realised he was back in his bed, with hours left before he needed to be up. He set his alarm for ten o'clock, figuring that that would give him plenty of time to shower, dress and tidy up his flat before Niall was due. He fell asleep with a smile on his face and slept the most soundly he had slept in years.

Before he knew it, Harry's alarm was signalling that it was time to get up, and Harry felt elated by the noise. He quickly got up, showered and tidied the flat, which wasn't actually as messy as he'd originally thought. There were thirty minutes to go before Niall was due and Harry didn't know what to do with himself.

As he sat on his sofa waiting for Niall's arrival, his mind started to think about what Niall could believe Harry needed help with. He knew that he wasn't happy in life, who truly is after all, but he was feeling oddly optimistic about where his life could be heading.

At midday on the dot, the doorbell rang. Harry was surprised at the sensation of butterflies in his stomach. The only other time he had felt them before was while queuing for a rollercoaster ride on a school trip as a teenager. He'd lost his lunch while on said rollercoaster, and that was the end of theme parks for him.

Harry opened the door, still curious as to whether this really would be Niall, or whether it would be the postman and that Niall had never even existed in the first place. He was very pleased to find that it was indeed Niall, looking angelic again as the sun was behind him.

"Aren't you going to invite me in, rather than staring at me on the step?" Niall joked.

Harry, jolted back to reality, went a deep shade of red and opened the door. Niall went inside the flat.

"It's great to be here in real life, it's tiring appearing to someone in their dreams," Niall smiled.

Again, Harry felt a pang of jealousy that he wasn't the first to receive night time visits from Niall.

"Yes, it is. And even nicer knowing that my alarm won't wake me up at a crucial time!" laughed Harry, hoping his jealousy wasn't visible.

If Niall had noticed, he was gracious and never let on. He merely sat next to Harry on the sofa and looked serious.

"I have been sent to you to help you fulfil your life, something it has been deemed that you haven't been achieving. It is my job to set you on the path to happiness and we are to start today. How do you feel about that?"

It seemed like a blunt question; it was, but in Niall's experience it was better to be upfront from the start, to cut down wasted time, as there weren't too many people like Niall and sadly too many people who needed help. This caused Niall to be very business-like, but it was with the very best of intentions.

"I've been thinking about it and I realised that you were right; I am unhappy but I wasn't always. Something has jolted me from the tracks and I would very much like to get back on track again."

This seemed to please Niall. "Excellent, then before we can begin, I need to set you a task. On a piece of paper, I need you to write down all of the things that you like about your life, and all of the things that you don't like about your life. I need to pop out for a little bit, but please work on this while I am gone. I will return in one hour and we will begin work!"

Harry was surprised that Niall would be leaving so soon but relieved to hear that he would return. Why was it perturbing him so much? He really couldn't understand it at all.

"Of course, I will get to work straight away, and I will be ready to work when you return."

Harry let Niall out of the flat, it suddenly seeming empty at his departure.

Not wanting to let Niall down, Harry grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, and sat at the dining table. When Niall had first outlined Harry's task, he had felt a little daunted, almost like he had writer's block, but now that he was focusing on the task at hand, he found it fairly easy.

In the "things I like" section, he had written:  
* my mum and sister Gemma  
* having my own flat  
* having a job (as much as Harry hated his job, and he did, he recognised that he was lucky to have a job, which enabled him to have his own flat)

At that point, Harry was stuck. He was happy that he had started with the positives, but that did mean he felt kind of buoyed up and that he might not be able to list anything negative. He was wrong. Once he put pen to paper, the list grew and grew.

Before he had realised it, the hour was up and Niall was back at his door, just as he said he would be.

Harry rushed to open the door and Niall walked in.

"How did the homework go? Did you manage to write anything down?" Niall asked, sitting on the sofa again.

Harry nodded. He grabbed the pen and paper and sat next to Niall.

"Hand it over then," Niall said, smiling at Harry.

Harry suddenly felt very nervous. What would Niall think? Was he just being whiny? Were his concerns legitimate? He scanned Niall's face looking for clues, but Niall's poker face was far too good.

"Uh huh, hmm, yes," Niall said, staring at the piece of paper. "I like all of the good parts, but there are a lot of bad parts. Plenty to work on there. Tell me Harry, what was your life like before 'the big event'?"

"Big event? What do you mean?"

"I have read your file, you know. Before the big event I speak of, you were happy. You had goals and aspirations, you wanted to be someone. What was the big event that changed all that?"

Harry could tell that Niall was being genuine. He knew he couldn't lie his way through this. He also felt oddly ready to unburden himself to basically a stranger.

"When I was young, my mum and dad were so in love. Me and my sister Gemma always said we wanted a love like that when we were older, because their love seemed like something out of a fairytale. Then one day, after we got home from school, we found mum crying and saying that dad had gone and that it was all over. Their love had been dying out but me and Gemma never believed their love would stop. My mum was so devastated that I vowed never to fall in love and even though I never planned it, that way of thinking dragged everything else down, until literally all I was doing was going to work and sleeping, which, as you know, wasn't very much. I started to fill my time with pointless hobbies to kid myself I was okay, and then you arrived in my dream that first night and made me feel like I was important. You told me you were sent to me. I wrote that dream off as just a symptom of my being sleep deprived. But then I saw you again, in the park, and then again on this very sofa. You had piqued my interest and certainly caused me to question how I felt about my life. When you asked me to complete the task on the paper, it all seemed to slot into place and I easily produced that list, as long as it is. I know it's early days, but thank you, I feel much happier already."

This knowledge pleased Niall, but at the same time he felt upset. He had been sent to Harry before he knew what he looked like, and after having been in effect stalking him for a whole month before appearing to him in the first dream, he had to admit that there was a strange pull towards Harry. He had never experienced anything like it with the previous almost one hundred people, so what was the deal with Harry? He had no idea. He didn't want to feel upset, he was just worried that Harry would progress too quickly and that he would have to move on to the next person who needed his help, and leave Harry behind.

Niall stood up and went over to the dining table, beckoning Harry to follow him. They both sat down opposite each other.

"You are going to work through the list of negatives, and you are going to grade them from one to five. One being the least likely you can affect the change, five being the most likely you can affect the change. As an example: I am Irish, was born Irish, just am Irish; this would be a one. I could say I am going to stand up, and that be a five, because I can actually achieve it. Does that make sense?"

Harry nodded and looked at the paper. There were twenty things on the negative list. He realised that this was a long list, however he silently worked through it while Niall sat patiently, in case Harry had any questions.

Finally the task was complete, and Harry handed the paper back to Niall, looking apprehensive.

Niall read down the list and seemed pleased. He targeted one thing on the list; 'I don't go out and socialise anymore'.

Looking Harry in the eye he said, "get your coat".

Harry looked nervous but one look into Niall's eyes and his nerves settled.

"O-okay", he stuttered, pulling his coat on and grabbing his wallet, phone and keys.

They left the flat and Niall walked them down the road to a pub Harry had been passed more times than he would like to remember but had never been in. He had no-one to go with. Until now.

It was late afternoon and the lunchtime drinkers had left but the tea-time crowd hadn't arrived yet, so it was nice and quiet. Harry noticed that the pub served food and immediately decided that he wanted to come back again, with Niall if possible. He blushed at his own invasive thought and hoped Niall hadn't noticed.

They order non-alcoholic drinks, at Niall's say so, and sit next to the big window. The pub is beside a large lake and even though it was cold and wintry, the view was beautiful. Harry felt sad that this view was mere minutes away from his flat, but that he had never discovered it before now.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, Niall spoke. "How do you feel, Harry?"

Harry felt like he was on a different planet. He didn't feel any bit of negativity, he wasn't stressed, he was happy to be alive and more importantly, he was with Niall. He felt like life was perfect. So, he told Niall that he felt like life was perfect. Niall knew that this was a temporary thing and that bringing Harry to a pub once wasn't going to fix everything, just like that. He was pleased though that Harry seemed to be in a better place.

"It's so lovely here, I wish I'd discovered it before. It's just so peaceful." Harry said, smiling at the view outside.

"You should see it in the summer, the swans, ducks and geese are about, you can buy bird food from the bar to feed to them. Plus in the spring, they have babies. They are seriously cute."

Niall looked out fondly at the lake too. Harry sneaked a look at Niall while he seemed to be occupied. Niall knew that Harry was staring and was happy to appear oblivious and allow Harry this indulgence. After all, he'd been doing the same thing to Harry while he'd been working on his task back at the dining table. Why else did he sit opposite Harry, knowing Harry would be too occupied to notice Niall staring. There had to be perks to the job, after all.

They both turned to stare at each at the same time, causing them both to laugh nervously. Harry realised that he didn't know anything about Niall, which hardly seemed fair.

"Niall, tell me more about you. How did you get into the 'job' you're in? You must have been doing it a long time if I am your one hundredth client."

Niall realised that he would have to divulge more information than he was used to, but strangely he felt like he wanted Harry to know everything.

"Well," he began, "I'm not really an age, wait I'm not making sense. I'm not mortal like you so I don't age. I appear to be twenty three and always will. When I was actually twenty three, many moons ago, I saved the life of an important person. I didn't know they were important at the time, I just did what my instincts told me to do. I was walking along the pavement when I noticed that a wall was about to fall on an infant in a pram, and I pushed the pram out of the way, though sadly the wall fell on me and I didn't make it."

Harry made an audible gasp sound and looked distraught. Niall continued.

"The baby was fine, and grew up to be the person who found the cure to a major disease, saving thousands of lives. The fates knew who this baby was destined to be, and because I had sacrificed myself, I was given the opportunity to work in the role I am now, helping others achieve their potential. I like it, I love it in fact. It gives me so much pleasure to help those who are lost and need help to find themselves."

Harry looked very emotional and couldn't believe what he was hearing. He did believe it, he just couldn't believe what happened to Niall. It was so uplifting but so sad at the same time.

Niall noticed the time and advised that they leave. Harry wished they could stay a while longer, but trusted that this was the right thing to do. On the way out of the door, Niall noticed a poster for an open mic night, and had an idea.

They ambled back to Harry's flat, not really talking about anything in particular. Once they got back, Niall looked serious.

"I have to leave now, something got planned into my schedule earlier that I can't shift. I'd love to hang out with you on Tuesday, if you're free?"

Harry could barely contain his excitement and nodded enthusiastically.

"Excellent! Shall I pop round at 7pm? Give you time to get home and have dinner first?"

Harry was disappointed that he would be eating alone, but he didn't say anything. He just nodded again, not trusting himself to speak as he was feeling very needy for Niall and didn't want to make that known.

"Great! I'll see you on Tuesday then?" Niall was stood by the front door. Harry opened the door for him and nodded. Niall nodded and walked down the stairs. Harry closed the flat door with a sad little click and leaned against it, breathing in Niall's scent before it disappeared. Outside, Niall wasn't doing much better. He didn't actually have any plans, he had lied to Harry, but the plans developing in his mind _involving_ Harry meant that Niall needed to distance himself from Harry, immediately.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since I updated, I ended up getting sick :(

Tuesday comes around pretty quickly and before Harry knows it, it's 7pm and Niall is at the door, prompt as ever. It is important to Niall that he never be late for one of his clients, trust being a big deal to him.

Harry opens the door with a beam on his face, mirroring the beam on Niall's face. Niall enters the flat and Harry shuts the door.

"How have you been since Saturday? Any difference in your outlook on life?" Niall asks, plopping down onto the sofa.

"Yes, I have felt much better, thank you," Harry gushes, "I have been sleeping much better too."

Niall knows all of this, of course he does, he just wants to see that Harry sees it. He's been 'monitoring' Harry since then, seeing him smiling at his desk and dancing with an office chair to the radio when he thought no-one was watching. No-one was watching, well no-one except Niall. He's pleased with the progress Harry's made, but again worries that Harry is progressing too quickly and that he'll be moved onto the next client too soon.

"That's great news, Harry. I'm so pleased."

Harry blushes at hearing Niall's praise.

"Where is your list? We need to take another look at it," Niall asks.

Harry fetches the sheet and sits next to Niall, their knees nearly touching. Harry tries not to notice. Niall tries not to notice. They both fail.

"We worked on socialising on Saturday, and we will come back to it, but I wanted to talk about this one here: 'I miss music'. What do you mean by that?"

Harry looks away, like he doesn't know where to start. Niall touches Harry's cheek with his hand, something he knows is against the rules, but something that he felt like he couldn't control, "hey, it's only me, you can tell me anything," he says soothingly.

Harry looks at him with tears in his eyes.

"When me and Gemma were young, we listened to a lot of music. Mum loved romantic ballads and played a lot of them in the house. We rarely had the TV on, it was pretty much always music. The day my dad left, my mum vowed never to listen to music again, and me and Gemma felt the same. Gemma ended up listening to angry sounding music instead and I just never bothered again. I used to love singing and playing the guitar, but I don't even know where my guitar is. When you made me list the things I didn't like about my life, I realised I missed music, but I really hadn't noticed its loss until then."

Niall sits quietly, thinking over what Harry just said and realising that he is on track with his plan.

"I think listening to music again is totally achievable. I have a guitar and I love to play, I'd love to play for you sometime?"

Harry smiles, "That sounds amazing. I'd love to hear you play." As he speaks, a plan forms in his mind. "Would you and your guitar like to come to dinner one night? One of the things on my list is that I miss cooking, and I would love to cook for you. It would be great to eat something that isn't instant mashed potatoes or noodles!"

Niall laughs, "I was going to say only if you cook me instant mashed potatoes or noodles, so I think I'll decline now."

Harry laughs a booming laugh, the first Niall's heard from him, and it makes his insides go mushy. Oh, that's not good. Niall realises he needs to go and needs to go now.

"Hmm, how about Thursday? I could come over around 6pm?" Niall's panicking now and trying to hide it.

Harry is none the wiser, he just smiles as he agrees to dinner at 6pm. To Harry, this feels like the best day ever.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, two chapter updates on the same day?! I'm not done yet either :P

"Oh, this isn't good, this isn't good..." Niall is pacing up and down.

"Niall, relax will ya, you're making me seasick," says Liam, Niall's friend, also in the same line of work as Niall.

"Liam, how can you ask me to calm down? Things are going so badly, I don't know what to do. I can't believe I allowed myself to get this invested. Just, how? It's never happened before, I just don't get it?"

"Look Niall, you two clearly have a connection, what's the problem?"

"The problem? He's mortal, I'm not mortal. One of us, I mean me, is going to be left devastated when he stops being mortal. Being immortal makes you forget that other people aren't. I just couldn't go through that. Ever since I first laid eyes on him while doing my initial surveillance I have been drawn to him, but I just thought I was being shallow because he's so good looking. Then I met him in his first dream, and he was so, so, captivating that I had to actually avoid him in case I literally drooled onto his shoes. I wasn't even aware that this could happen. Argh!"

Liam looked at Niall and felt useless. He had no great advice because this indeed was an unheard of occurrence.

"Maybe you should talk to an elder, maybe they've seen this before?" Liam offered.

"But what if they take my job from me? I don't know if it's frowned upon or anything?"

Liam thought for a moment. "I know that Louis is pretty honest and he wouldn't lie to you. He's been doing this longer than you and I put together. Let's ask him? Yeah?"

Niall couldn't disagree so they went to find Louis. Niall needed to know what his options were before his dinner with Harry later that night. They find Louis in his room, and the two of them turning up together confuses him.

"Woah, are you ganging up on me, coming at me together?"

Niall laughs. "No, I just need some advice as Liam was no use at all!"

"Sounds about right," Louis guffaws. "He has his uses. At least that's what I've heard, never seen it meself."

"Hey now, you're not being fair," Liam says, pretending to look hurt.

Niall and Louis laugh. "So, what's the issue young Nialler?" Louis looked concerned. Niall never came to him for advice.

"Erm, it's about my latest client. I seem to have developed, an attachment to him, shall we say?"

Louis looked thoughtful. "And how does he feel?" he asked.

Niall was taken aback. He honestly didn't know.

"Erm, I don't know the answer to that, I've been too busy doing my job and trying not to get too close, I haven't really had the chance to notice," he admits.

"When are you seeing him again?" asks Louis.

"Tonight," Niall answers," he invited me around for dinner. I said I'd take my guitar as he used to play and misses it."

"Well, you're going to have to be a bit more observant when it comes to how he feels. WE can't really think about this properly until you have all of the information. If it's just a crush on your behalf, we can deal with that. If it's reciprocated, then we'll deal with that. For now, you need to gather your intelligence and report back to me with your findings. We'll take it from there. I hope you have a great time, though I can imagine it won't be as easy as all that."

Niall thanks Louis and he and Liam leave. Niall goes back to his room to start getting ready.

Harry meanwhile has been cooking up a storm, obviously none the wiser to Niall's predicament. Before he knows it, the doorbell goes and Niall is at the door.

"Come in, come in, it's great to see you again," Harry says, beaming from ear to ear.

"Thanks, something smells lovely." If it's one thing Niall loves, it's food and especially home-cooked food.

"Oh, it's just chicken and pasta. Oh no! I didn't even think to check, you're not vegetarian are you?" Harry looks horrified.

"No, don't worry, I pretty much eat anything. It's fine." Niall laughs, hoping he's calmed Harry down.

"Phew, that would have been a meal to remember; me eating chicken and pasta, and you with bags of crisps because that's literally all I have in the cupboard right now!"

"Crisps sounds good, keep your pasta and chicken", jokes Niall.

"Oi!" Harry laughs, knocking Niall's shoulder with his and staring into his eyes for longer than Niall would have liked.

Niall breaks eye contact first and says, "this is my guitar, Samantha. We've been to a lot of places and we have great memories. She's excited to play for you later."

Harry looks Niall straight in the eye and says, "I can't wait for my private performance later."

Niall gulps and asks where the bathroom is.

"Just down there on the right", answers Harry. "I'll just finish dinner up, it's nearly ready to serve."

"Great!" says Niall, scarpering down the hallway.

Niall looks at himself in the mirror. "You can do this, you can do this. It's just one dinner, you can do this."

"Niall, are you okay? Are you talking to yourself?" Harry sounds concerned.

"Yeah, fine. Just practicing my lyrics for later." He is such a bad liar and he knows it.

"Okay, dinner's ready now!" Harry calls, happily.

Niall splashes his face with water, and prepares himself for the meal of his life.


	6. Chapter 6

The pasta and chicken are the nicest Niall's ever had. So nice he had seconds and is feeling very regretfully full. Even more regretful as Harry has made dessert, and Niall's not sure where he's going to put it. People joke that he has 'hollow legs' but he actually wishes he had hollow legs to push all of this food down into.

"Let's eat dessert on the sofa", suggests Harry.

Niall has no genuine reason to turn Harry down, so he follows him and sits down. It's a three seater sofa, but you'd think it was a single seat the way Harry sits so close.

"I thought we could have two spoons and one bowl, that's alright, isn't it?" Harry looks at Niall with a cheeky smirk.

"Yeah, yeah, sounds good", coughs Niall. Oh, this is not going well.

The dessert is so good, Niall can't help but let a little moan of pleasure out of his lips. He is a sucker for cheesecake. This causes Harry to blush, stare at Niall, blush again, and then look away. Niall tries to eat the cheesecake as quietly as possible.

When they've finished eating, Harry asks Niall to play the guitar for him. Until reaching Harry's flat, Niall was totally okay with this. He's played in front of people hundreds of times, how hard can it be? Incredibly, apparently. He grabs the guitar and starts strumming his fingers across the strings. Every time he thinks of a song to play, it's a love song. Finally, he starts playing "Wonderwall" by Oasis, he knows he can play it and sing it without thinking too hard, it was the first song he learned how to play.

He starts playing and Harry is captivated. Niall thinks, 'this is fine, this is fine,' but as he starts singing the words, not having really thought about the actual lyrics before, he realises that he may have made a mistake. Still, ever the professional, he carries on, thinking, "well, I'm singing it now, it's all good."

So Niall (on the outside) is strumming his guitar, singing his heart out, looking calm. Niall (on the inside) is a massive ball of nerves who is trying his hardest not to sweat, or even look like everything is anything other than okay.

He gets to the end of the song and Harry explodes in applause. "Bravo! More! I feel like I'm in the theatre!" laughs Harry.

Niall is relieved it's over, but concerned at what will happen next. Unless he performs an actual concert, he can't continue to use his guitar as a barrier from Harry.

Harry must have read his mind, as he takes the guitar from Niall and places it gently against the wall. Niall notices that it looks at home there. Harry takes Niall's hand and sits closer. Niall realises where Harry is leading this and starts to panic. He was only supposed to be gathering intel with regards to Harry's feelings, and they are now as clear as day. He realises he has to leave, and leave now. The urge to kiss Harry is too strong, but he can't until he's spoken to Louis. What has his life come to; he needs to ask an elder if he can have a kiss.

Before Harry can come too close, Niall stands and grabs his guitar. Rushing towards the door, Niall comes out with the only excuse he could think of, "I have to go, I left the iron on! Thanks for dinner, it was lovely!" and bolts out of the door, leaving Harry confused and hurt on the other side of it.


	7. Chapter 7

Niall decides that enough is enough and seeks out Louis. Again, Louis is in his room.

"Ah, Nialler! How did it go last night? Gather much information?" Louis asks, smiling at Niall.

"Yes, I learnt a lot, namely that this isn't a one way street. He is definitely interested in me, what should I do? I don't want to get into trouble, but I don't want to stay away from him either."

"Well," starts Louis, "I did a bit of research myself as I suspected that this would be the case. It has happened before, but it is very rare. Sometimes the universe just decides that two people are meant to be together, and that's that. A lot of people think they've met "the one" in the beginning, but it turns out it was simply lust blinding them. Not that there's anything wrong with lust, of course", Louis laughs.

Niall just looks at Louis with an impatient stare. "Well, what did you learn? Am I in trouble?"

Louis looks at Niall, surprised by his seriousness. Niall was always laughing and joking, it wasn't usual to see him like this.

"Sorry, erm, as I said it has happened before, and you are not in trouble. The powers that be recognise that this has happened, and that you are free to see Harry as you wish."

Niall let out a sigh of relief, though it was short lived.

"But what about the immortal thing? The whole I will be separated from him once the time comes, thing?" Niall looked on the verge of tears.

"I asked that question too," Louis replied, "and there is a way around it."

Niall was on the edge of his seat.

"The powers that be looked into Harry's file and found that he is a perfect candidate to work with us. He has a kind heart and a true desire to help others. He doesn't know this because he has been so depressed, but that thing that drives people to be good people, it is within him."

Niall didn't know what to think. He was pleased that he wouldn't get into trouble and that spending time with Harry had been seen as a good thing, however for Harry to work with them, and become immortal, well, he had to become immortal. That was the difficult part.

"Thank you so much Louis, I really appreciate you finding all of that out for me. I think I'm going to keep spending time with Harry and see where things go naturally. I would hate to put him through any unnecessary stress if I have misjudged my feelings for him."

"That is a wise choice, Niall. You know you can talk to me anytime you like, don't you? My door is always open."

Niall was grateful. He felt like a giant weight had been lifted now that he knew he was free to just spend time with Harry and let things happen organically. Harry was making real strides in being happier already, and Niall was desperate to see it continue.

"Thank you, I must go, I need to apologise to Harry. I kind of ran out on him last night when things got too much and I'm worried I've put his progress backwards by rushing off after gaining his trust."

"Of course Niall, I'll see you soon," Louis smiled.

Niall left, hoping that Harry was home. He had some making up to do.

Niall found Harry at his flat, but he seemed a bit reluctant to let Niall in, though he did in the end.

"Look Harry, I'm really sorry for leaving the way I did. I got nervous because the evening was going so well and I've never been in that situation before. I handled it so badly, can you forgive me?"

It looked like Harry wasn't expecting such a truthful confession from Niall, he just sat on his sofa with his mouth open.

"Well thank you, I had been worried that it was me, that I had said or done something wrong. I kept going over everything, and I couldn't work it out. I'm glad it wasn't me. I was so confused when you left."

Niall looked distraught at this news.

"Harry, I truly am sorry. I acted so badly, after you had been such a gracious host. Please let me make it up to you? I'd love to take you out, if I may? For dinner?"

Harry looked at Niall with tears in his eyes.

"I had really thought that it was my fault," he said, sadly.

Niall looked horrified and rushed over to sit by Harry on the sofa. As soon as Niall sat down, Harry started to cry. Niall pulled Harry towards him in a hug and held Harry while he cried what seemed like a lifetime worth of tears. Niall rubbed his arm soothingly and kissed the top of Harry's head. That seemed to make Harry cry even harder. Niall just held him until it seemed he had cried himself out.

After a while of holding each other silently on the sofa, Harry looked up at Niall with red-rimmed eyes.

"It really wasn't me?" he asked.

Niall looked Harry straight in the eye and said, "I promise you Harry, it was all me. I really like you and I got scared. I didn't know what else to do so I fled. I really am sorry, I will never leave you like that again, I prom-"

Before Niall could finish speaking, Harry was kissing him. Niall felt like he was floating, he had never experienced anything like it. He hadn't kissed anyone since becoming immortal and had only kissed one girl before that when he was really drunk at a party. He was not expecting a kiss to make him feel so, drunk. Niall held onto Harry and kissed him back, feeling like this was where he belonged. The strong feeling of being "at home" was there again.

Much to Niall's dismay, Harry pulled back from their kiss, though only to look Niall in the eye.

"I am so glad you came back, I know I've only known you for a little bit but I feel like I've known you forever. The flat feels so empty when you go."

Niall looked at Harry, feeling lightning bolts of adrenaline coursing through him. He felt exactly the same. He knew he wanted to spend forever with Harry, but he didn't want to rush into things.

"I feel the same, Harry. Being with you feels so natural. I never expected anything like this, you were just supposed to be my next client," Niall laughed.

Harry just smiles and cuddles up to Niall.

"Did you want to go out or anything?" Niall asks, gently.

"Can we just stay like this for a bit? I'm just so relieved you came back." Harry says, looking at Niall.

"Of course, I'd love nothing more." Niall brings Harry closer to him, and Harry rests his mouth on Niall's neck. Before Niall knows it, Harry's asleep in his arms and Niall knows he's lost the battle and that love has won.

Many hours later, Niall wakes up still cuddling Harry. The alarm clock that used to break them apart is back at it, telling Harry that it's time to get up and join the real world again. Reluctantly Harry gets up off the sofa, goes to his phone and turns the alarm off.

"Morning," he says, his hair sticking out at crazy angles.

"Morning," Niall answers. His hair has fared better than Harry's but is still a little wild.

"I really don't feel like going to work today. Fancy pulling a sickie with me?" Harry throws Niall a cheeky grin.

"I would love to, but I would get into trouble for that. I'm supposed to be keeping you on the strait and narrow to happiness, not getting you into trouble."

Harry pulls a sulking face but is grinning underneath it.

"I'll tell you what", Niall offers, "you go to work, it is Friday after all, you know Fridays are more relaxed there, and after work I will take you out for a meal, like I offered last night. What do you think?"

Harry doesn't hesitate to nod, beaming at Niall while he does.

"I think that sounds fair," he laughs.

"Right, you need to get ready for work, and I need to run some errands. I will pick you up at 6pm, will that be okay?"

Harry walks towards the sofa and sits next to Niall.

"That would be perfect," he breathes happily. He inches closer to Niall and brings their lips together. Niall wasn't sure if the kisses last night were hallucinations, they were that good, but Harry kissing him now reminds him that they were very much real and that he could have these kisses whenever he wanted. Realising that fact, his heart skipped a beat. Anchoring onto Harry while they kissed for fear he may float away, Niall had never felt so content. He also realised how terribly lonely he had been since he became immortal. Helping people had made him happy, but now he realised his true happiness lay with Harry.

"You're making it very difficult for me to leave, Harry", Niall laughed, pulling away.

"Then don't," Harry said plainly. The thought went through Niall's brain for a millisecond, but then sensibility kicked in and he realised he had to be the grown up here.

"You know I would love to stay, but I can't be seen to be leading you astray. That's a big part of my job role."

He looked so serious that Harry felt bad for asking again. He couldn't help it; Niall felt like an addiction he was unwilling to kick.

"Okay, okay," Harry laughed, "I don't want you to get into trouble. I'd hate for them to keep us apart as a punishment."

Niall knew that wouldn't happen, but he let Harry think it would do so that he'd comply and get ready for work. He felt cheeky 'lying' to Harry but he knew he needed a deterrent more than Harry did. Having to leave Harry this morning was going to be difficult.

Niall stood up and walked towards the door of the flat.

"I'll see you at 6pm, I hope you have a lovely day," Niall said, pulling Harry towards him into a hug.

Harry just breathed in Niall's scent, as if storing it up to get him through the day.

"Thank you, you too. I can't wait to see you later," Harry said, his smile so wide.

Before Niall had the chance to say, 'sod it, let's stay in', he forced himself to open the door to leave.

"See you later," Harry said, dreamily staring at Niall. Niall stared back, just as dreamily, and waved as he walked down the path.

Harry closed the door and breathed a huge sigh. He knew today was going to drag.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter update for today :)

The day actually went relatively quickly, which pleased Harry. People in the office noticed he seemed happier and his sales number was the highest it had ever been. The customers on the phone seemed bewitched by him and couldn't wait to buy all manner of office stationery from him. Before he knew it, he was on the bus on the way home.

He got home around 5:30pm and jumped in the shower. He found himself humming "Wonderwall" as he shampooed his hair and showered his body. He'd always liked that song, and even more so now.

The doorbell rang at 6pm sharp and Harry was ready to go. As he opened the door, he saw Niall looking ever so smart in a suit. Harry felt underdressed in his jeans, shirt and boots.

"Should I get changed?" Harry asked nervously.

"Why?" said Niall. "You look amazing."

"Because you're in a suit, I don't want to show you up."

Niall laughed, "I promise you won't show me up. You look perfect as you are. I just wanted to look smart and this is seriously the best outfit I have for going out. Please don't change, you look perfect."

Harry looked relieved. "Okay then, I'm ready to go, if you are?"

Harry locked the door of the flat, and they started walking down the path together.

"I can't wait, I'm starving." Niall laughed.

Harry playfully punched Niall in the arm, "that's all you're excited about, eh? Thanks!"

Niall put his arm around Harry and said, "I am excited about dinner, but I'm more excited about spending it with you."

Even though it was dark, Niall could tell that Harry was blushing. He could feel himself falling further for him. He wasn't even sure he'd be able to eat; the butterflies in his stomach were rampant.

Needing to anchor himself, Niall grabbed Harry's hand and they made their way to the pub by the lake where they'd had their first drink.

Harry was looking through the menu, deciding what to eat. Niall had decided on his choice as soon as he'd seen the menu; burger and chips were his favourite and he ate them whenever he had the chance. Harry hadn't been out to eat for a long time and was overwhelmed by the choice. Eventually he settled on burger and chips, reasoning that if he chose something different, and Niall's looked nicer, he would feel disappointed. This way, they had the same and he'd have no reason to feel like he should have chosen something else.

Niall had been watching Harry studying the menu. He loved the dimple in Harry's cheek when he was really concentrating. He loved how Harry's hair was not too long and not too short, but in that in between time where it did what it wanted, no matter how Harry tried to style it. He loved how relaxed and happy Harry looked, just being in a pub down the road. He realised that he was in so deep, swimming in a lake of Harry, and he didn't want to get out anytime soon.

While they waited for the food to arrive, they chatted about all kinds of things, mainly about Niall because Niall already knew so much about Harry from his file. Before they knew it, the food had arrived and they settled down to eat.

About twenty minutes after they had finished eating, Harry noticed a man stood on a little stage with a microphone stand.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the open mic will open in ten minutes. Please let Trevor know at the bar if you want to perform, we only have a few slots left if you're interested."

Harry looked at Niall, and Niall looked back at Harry, trying to gauge his reaction. This seemed like a good idea in hindsight, had Niall got it wrong?

"I've always wanted to go to an open mic night!" Harry gushed excitedly.

Niall let the breath go that he'd been holding. That could have gone so badly! Luckily, he had judged it correctly and Harry was happy to stay. Niall knew Harry missed music, but he was worried that too much exposure too soon might trigger Harry. It seemed though that when he was with Niall, Harry was protected behind a force field that kept bad out and Niall in. The evening was going well.

That was until the guy with the microphone called Niall's name out as the next person to perform. This was crunch time. How would Harry react? Niall wasn't usually nervous about performing, but he certainly was now. He looked at Harry expectantly.

Harry looked at Niall like he had hung the moon and said, "are you really going to perform?"

Niall nodded and Harry looked like he might burst with pride. For the second time in as many hours, Niall found himself relieved that he'd done the right thing.

Niall walked down to the front of the pub and retrieved his guitar from the side of the stage. He got up on the stage and adjusted the height of the microphone as the person who had performed before him was much taller than him.

"Hello everyone, it's been a while since I performed, so please forgive me if I'm a little rusty." He started to strum and after a while started to sing, "Wonderful World" by Sam Cooke.

Harry looked at Niall in shock. This was one of his and Gemma's favourite songs. How did Niall know? Did Niall know? Niall just looked straight at Harry as he continued to sing, hoping that Harry could understand just how Niall was feeling.

Harry was holding back tears, though they were happy tears. At the same time, he felt sad for distancing himself so much from Gemma. Them losing their dad should have brought them closer together, but he had allowed himself to drift away from her. He vowed to make it right.

He was so proud of Niall, performing for him on the stage. When Niall had finished singing, the pub erupted in applause and Harry was on his feet, cheering and clapping with a huge smile on his face. Niall bowed to the audience theatrically and Harry laughed.

Eventually Niall made his way back to Harry, having gotten waylaid on the way by well-wishers congratulating him on his performance.

"That was amazing, you are such a good singer." Harry gushed, taking Niall's hand in his.

"Thank you, I really wanted to share that with you, I know you miss music and socialising so I thought I'd combine both," Niall said proudly.

"Well, you were right. We really should do this again."

"Yes," agreed Niall, "we will do it again. Especially as the pub's so close to your flat. I'll do you a deal though? We'll eat dinner here in future, but you must provide the dessert. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven when I ate that cheesecake!"

"Deal," says Harry, shaking on it.

"Did you want to stay for a bit longer, or shall we leave?" Niall asked.

"I'd like to stay a while, if that's okay? It's Saturday tomorrow so I can lie in. It's so nice being around people again, and the company certainly helps," he smiles gently at Niall.

"I'd love that," Niall says, "I'm happy to leave when you want."

They stay watching the acts until the pub is literally closing and slowly wander back to Harry's flat. They go in and sit on the sofa together, feeling happy. Niall pulls Harry close and Harry snuggles into Niall.

"Did you have a lovely evening?" Niall asks.

"It was perfect," Harry replies, sounding a little sleepy.

"I should go, you're falling asleep!" Niall laughs.

Harry looks up at Niall, "you don't have to go, you know?"

Niall gulped. Of course that thought had crossed his mind in the past, but he didn't expect it from Harry so soon. He was conflicted. He wanted to stay, but he wanted Harry to be sure that this was what he wanted. He looked love drunk and Niall wasn't sure that Harry had thought it through.

"I'd love to stay, but can we just cuddle? I really like you, and I don't want to rush things," Niall said, hoping Harry understood.

Harry looked relieved at that. "Yes, I'd love that. I agree, I don't want to rush either. I really love spending time with you, whatever we're doing."

Niall smiled, "then I would love to stay with you."

Harry led Niall to the bedroom. They shyly got undressed, keeping their underpants on, and slipped under the duvet. Niall lay on his back while Harry snuggled up closely to him. Niall kissed the top of Harry's head, not trusting himself to kiss Harry's lips. Harry sighed contendedly. Niall cuddled him closer and they both fell asleep, smiling.


End file.
